YOUR AM WRITES: Monmouth's Nick Ramsay

YOUR AM WRITES: Monmouth's Nick Ramsay

Fans of the globally-acclaimed musician and Monmouthshire resident Geoff Downes will immediately recognise the catchy opening of this classic Buggles hit, the first ever music video to be played on MTV.

It was a pleasure to support Geoff and his colleagues recently on the 'HMS Prog' opening leg of his latest European tour.

We were treated to a tour de force of musical theatre from the 1970s onwards.

Classic rock bands like Yes and Asia do an enormous amount to sell the UK overseas and to bring money into the country.

In the same way that video replaced the radio star, so commentators are keen to talk about the need for a new "global Britain" as we leave the European Union and head out to make it on our own.

Nurturing our Welsh music industry is an obvious way to develop that new economy and at the same time put Wales well and truly on the world stage as a talented place to do business.

Well done Geoff and the team for doing your bit to raise our country’s profile and all the best for the rest of the tour.

With inspiring people firmly in mind, I was more than happy to welcome 17-year-old Caitlin Mitchell from Cwmbran to shadow me at the Assembly as part of Chwarae Teg’s excellent 'LeadHerShip' programme.

It’s very important that we do all we can to encourage the next generation to better understand and engage with politics and I think LeadHerShip is a positive way of doing this.

Just under 20 young women signed up for the programme which involved them anonymously submitting a piece of work on milestones in the improvements of women’s rights over the decades.

I was impressed with Caitlin’s work and was delighted she could join me, albeit for a short time, as I carried out the role of representing my constituents in the Assembly.

Who knows, maybe the future first minister was somewhere in our midst…

Finally, no article is complete without a mention of a superb and hardworking local group which I’ve had the fortune to be involved with for some time - Chepstow Mencap.

This charity has now been in existence for several decades and has provided enormous support and friendship to many local people and their families during that time.

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